Flashback Friday, Moments in time, 15 July 2013, A day in London.

15 July 2013

We were well and truly settled into life in the United Kingdom. 

Life in our little village was easy and we were only a quick train ride from London. 

An Aussie friend I met in Shanghai was coming to England to visit family, 

did I have time to pop into London for a catch up? Did I ever! 

Love London, one of my favourite cities, any excuse to pop into the city!

We wandered around Covent Garden and the markets, drooled over some 

delicious food...nothing says summer in London like strawberries and cream! 

Well...maybe a Pimms, but was a little early for that!

We walked to Harrods and chose a few goodies from the amazing food court for lunch.

We walked to Hyde Park, soaking up all London has to offer on the way.

Who doesn't love a Vintage Red London Bus?

Watched some local kids having horse riding lessons in Hyde Park, 

what an opportunity for them!

Perfect place to spend a warm Summer day and catch up with a friend.

We parked ourselves on some deck chairs, ate our Harrods Take Away and shared 

a few glasses of bubbles...sadly out of plastic cups, not crystal flutes!

A great day reminiscing about Shanghai adventures and creating new memories,

 in one of our world's most amazing cities on a gorgeous Summer day.

Being 'home' in Perth - six months into repatriation.

Six months ago we were in our final days of our two years in Germany, 

our final days of eight years as expats. 

Lots of 'last times' ...last walk in the forest, last meal with friends, 

last chat with the neighbours, before the last drive to the airport. 

Tears were shed but we looked forward to being 'home' to friends 

and the familiar way of life, back to being Aussies in Australia, 

where we wouldn't stand out.

We had been warned by other expats who had returned home, 

that repatriation was the hardest move of all. 

We expected it to be tough but had no idea how tough it would actually be.

The Perth we came home to was very different to the Perth we had left. 

We had grown and moved on as had those we had left behind. 

Some friendships had changed. The roads and rules had changed.

Suburbs had sprung up where golf courses had been when we left.

Kids had become adults, some parents, re connections were needed.

Our four years in Shanghai were some of the best years of our lives. 

The girls went there as children and left as young adults. 

We immersed ourselves in the culture, enjoyed the street foods and loved 

everything from the back alleys to the futuristic skyline. 

We adapted to what we could do and buy, the things we missed from home 

became less as we discovered more in Shanghai. 

Shanghai was 'home'

Many memories and friendships made, we all left a big chunk 

of our hearts there.

We made fabulous friends and had many adventures in England and Germany too. 

Friends were part of our every day lives, a huge support when you are so far from 'home'. 

We introduced British friends to the term 'do a u-ey', learned that pants are 

called trousers there and if you are 'fit' doesn't mean that you could run a half marathon. 

We travelled the countryside on weekends, enjoyed local festivals and traditions.

England was 'home',

We introduced German and a few American friends

to the delights of an Aussie Pav!

We had a gorgeous German forest as our backyard.

We discovered countless castles and amazing history on our doorstep. 

Germany was 'home'.

We left pieces of our hearts in England and Germany too.

We are very happy to be home in Perth, the city the girls and I were born in, 

the only place we truly belong. 

We  still find ourselves homesick for China, ecstatic when we find familiar 

foods in our local Asian shop. 

Homesick for England, the history,  the Pints and the Ye Olde Pubs. 

Homesick for Germany, the seasons in our forest...and white asparagus season!

Friends that became family in all three!

We will get over our cultural jet lag but we did leave pieces of our hearts in 

China, England and Germany, places we lovingly called home. 

Home is where you make it..and where you have left bits of your heart!

Perth is a great place to call home...and we can't complain about the weather...

enjoy these photos, taken while I walked the dog on a beautiful blue sky, 

sunny 18C,  WINTER day!

There is no place like home!

Home: the timely July travel link up, 

Flashback Friday - A cheeky weekend in Paris

One of the joys of expat life is the people you meet and 

the friends you make along the way. 

Expat friends become your family away from home and you get 

close much quicker than you would at home.

Once we left Shanghai and lived for two years each in 

England and Germany, most of our visitors were 

friends from our time in Shanghai. 

We caught up with lots of  friends as they came to London, 

English friends who were 'home for the Summer' 

would join me for an adventure or two.

Friends came to stay in Germany to visit us...and a 

Christmas Market ... or two....maybe a visit to the Rhine to 

drink a Riesling...or two!

I received a message from a Shanghai friend who invited my family to join them in 

Champagne to spend the weekend with them and drink Champagne

while they were there. Only a few hours drive from Frankfurt... 

How could I say no??? Well I had to, we were off  

back to England so my elder daughter could go to prom 

with her old school mates that weekend. 

Major bad timing...but, our friends were also going to Paris! 

Maybe we could meet there...

 Took a little juggling, searching for rail tickets 

and a sneaky day off school for my youngest daughter, 

two of us got to go to Paris for the weekend. 

 We got to  have a fabulous weekend, 

We wandered the streets, soaked up the atmosphere and ate some wonderful food.

Best of all got to spend lots of time catching up with our wonderful friends. 

Sometimes these spur of the moment trips are the very best!

Memories of life in Shanghai four years on...

Hard to believe that we left our Shanghai life four years ago this week. 

We lived in Shanghai for four years so we have now been away for longer than we were there. 

So much has changed, we are struggling with repatriation after eight years 

as expats. Two years each in England and Germany after Shanghai. 

The memories remain strong but the life we lived fades into the distance. 

Barely any of our friends remain, the city has moved on, the skyline has changed, 

the markets, shops and restaurants that were familiar are no more,

 replaced with new places to give the next generation of expats

places to discover and explore.

Shanghai will always be special to my little family. 

My husband and I really had a four year long honeymoon! 

The places we went, the adventures we had, the people we met, 

lifelong friends have now slowly dispersed

around this globe of ours. 

We still miss Shanghai every day, such a vibrant, exciting, cultural and fun city...

come on a trip down memory lane with me...

Our friendly local recycling guy!

The brides of Shanghai...having photos taken at "Thames Town"

The ever changing skyline and all the comings and goings of the Bund.

The temples!

The beautiful local people, the autumn colour and Yu Garden

The now long gone Dongtai Lu antique market.

The aromatic and delicious food of the Muslim Market.

The laundry and the loads.

The senior citizens having a chat while 'airing' their birds.

My local stomping grounds, the noise, the smell...the traffic!

The nappers...how I miss my nappers!

The dogs in clothes. 

So much to miss but so many fabulous memories, happy we had the opportunity to 

have such a wonderful experience. 

We wouldn't change a thing!

Throwback Thursday, Moments in Time, 12 May 2016 Wiesbaden, Germany

Wiesbaden was where my husband was based just before we moved to Germany

and quickly became one of my favourite places. 

A historic spa city from way back in the Roman times, 

 it is filled with beautiful architecture as it suffered far less damage

than Frankfurt in WWII. 

Only a twenty minute drive from home, was a favourite place to shop, eat and drink.

This time last year I headed in to Wiesbaden on a gorgeous Spring day. 

A gorgeous day to wander through the market square, marvel at

the gorgeous neo Gothic Marktkirche, the City Palace, a palace for the Heir to the throne

 and The Heathens Wall, Wiesbaden's oldest structure from Roman Times.

Also a perfect day to buy some in season and absolutely delicious 

White Asparagus and for just €1 a kilo you can have them peeled before 

heading home and having a scrummy white asparagus, prawn, tomato pasta dinner.

Now feeling homesick for Germany and really, really missing White Asparagus season!

Throwback Thursday, Moments in Time 5 May 2012, Shanghai, China

In May 2012, my little family was on the final countdown to the 

end of our expat adventure in Shanghai.

Life was full of farewells and 'last times'. Adventures to be squeezed into our final months. 

On 5 May, we headed over to Pudong to visit the Shanghai World Financial Centre or 

"The Bottle Opener" to expats and locals alike. 

We had watched this building being constructed while we lived in Shanghai and

wanted to go to the observation deck 474m above the ground one last time.

We looked out over the Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower and the under construction Shanghai Tower, 

well before it overtook the Bottle Opener.

The magical city of Shanghai was spread out before us, though the skies 

were murky...until of course we had gone back down to street level and

the skies finally cleared and were bright and blue!

The ever changing Shanghai Skyline, frozen in time, 5 May 2012, 

boy has it changed since!

Hard to believe that we have now lived away from Shanghai for nearly as long as were lived there.

Throwback Thursday! Moments in Time 28 April 2013 - Waterperry Gardens, England

28 April 2013

Waterperry Gardens

When we lived in England, on the border of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, 

we drove by the sign for Waterperry Gardens all the time. 

Spring was Springing, we had a visitor over from Australia and 

despite an overcast and chilly day, I grabbed my chance to 

take my little family on a garden adventure with our visitor.

Waterperry Gardens is 8 acres of beautiful gardens. 

A riverside walk lined with daffodils A meadow filled with

Snakeshead fritillaries, my absolute favourite native English wild flower. 

Formal gardens, rose gardens and a herbaceous border.

Magnificent Magnolia's in bloom, Fruit trees budding

Springtime filling the air with perfume.

A lovely way to soak up the countryside in Spring, 

or any time of the year, England has a flower for every season season. 

 Aren't these the most amazing flower, the chequerboard petals, 

the bell shaped flowers nodding in the breeze. 

Also known as the chequered daffodil!

They are sure to be home to the trendiest of fairies!!!